In a large number of localities, the temperature conditions are such that for a large portion of the year sleeping is difficult or impossible due to the extremes of heat, humidity and/or freezing or below freezing temperatures. Typically, in many of such regions, economic development as well as the presence of sufficient electrical power are both insufficient to enable the inhabitants to afford the substantially more expensive and more energy consumming space air conditioners that have enjoyed widespread use in the developed countries of the world where manufacturing expertise is widely available and electrical power is plentiful. There has been, accordingly, a critical need in developing and underdeveloped countries to provide an alternative to space or room air conditioners both in the extreme cold as well as the very hot climates particularly where evening temperatures drop well below freezing in the northern latitudes while the nighttime temperatures in the tropical climates often do not drop below 80.degree. F. with commensurately high humidity. Among these alternatives, the prior art has proposed cushion or bed mattress structures where air is pumped through apertures in the mattress or surface layer on which the user will position his body for rest. An air conditioning compressor and/or heater will be provided adjacent the mattress to conduct conditioned air into a compartment usually subjacent the user's body where a fan or similar fluid pump will force the conditioned air up through the apertures provided in the mattress. See, in this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 3,266,064 of Aug. 16, 1966.
While this and similar type structures provide some degree of relief from the temperature extremes such as by forcing cooling or heated air to the surface of the mattress, it is not likely that such structures would enjoy widespread acceptance since there has been no control over the release of the conditioned air so that a large portion of the power consumed in conditioning the air would be wasted as a result of free flow of the conditioned air through the open apertures.